1. Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments of the invention are related to the field of computer systems. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable a system and method for management of common decentralized applications data and logic.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is currently no known system or method for computer-assisted management of common decentralized applications data and logic, for example enterprise-network files of interest which contain enterprise-wide business data, but which are housed in individual files spread across an organization.
Specifically, enterprise-wide business data and processes are currently built and maintained in two popular tools, spreadsheets, most commonly MICROSOFT® EXCEL®), and desktop/departmental databases, most commonly MICROSOFT® ACCESS®. Files of these types litter business organization personal computers and yet should be coordinated to provide data integrity and centralized knowledge. This dispersed information topology limits the usefulness of the data.
Enterprise Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other IT-department managers often are held responsible for knowing how many files exist of certain file types (for example, MP3s and proprietary-software executables). This is a difficult job at best as the files could be in thousands of directories spread across thousands of personal computers in a large organization.
In addition, both spreadsheets, such as MICROSOFT® EXCEL® and desktop/departmental databases such as MICROSOFT® ACCESS® offer daunting challenges to most enterprises' CIOs or IT departments, as they are usually:
Difficult to inventory and understand—Most spreadsheets and desktop/departmental databases are designed, built, and maintained by business (i.e., non-Information Technology) departments, with no IT involvement or guidance. Thus, most CIOs or IT managers cannot answer with any confidence any question about the number or purpose of the spreadsheets and desktop/departmental databases—even though these usually comprise a substantive percentage of overall enterprise “information.”
Very difficult to migrate into enterprise applications—After business departments develop and use spreadsheets and desktop/departmental databases, business department management occasionally finds inherent spreadsheet and desktop/departmental database limitations (primarily to do with single-user limits or lack of integration with other enterprise databases) to be a problem, and ask their CIO or IT manager to “upgrade” it to support multiple users and, where appropriate, integrate it with other enterprise applications and data. This is often a troublesome request for a CIO or IT manager to receive, as most CIO's resources are stretched thin and the effort of migrating either a spreadsheet or desktop/departmental database to fit it into enterprise database and architectural standards (such application-development technology stacks such as .NET/SQL Server or J2EE/Oracle) often significantly exceeds the cost of designing and building the original spreadsheet or desktop/departmental database.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a system and method for management of common decentralized applications data and logic.